Dads, have you told your kids today that you love them? Parenting in a pandemic can be challenging, but a campaign now underway has tips to help encourage 鈥淒adication鈥� from fathers, even when it鈥檚 difficult.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just asking them to make that ‘Dadication’ to their child: to stay involved, to stay inspired,鈥� said Kenneth Braswell, CEO of Fathers Incorporated.
鈥淢y No. 1 advice would be to slow down, savor the moment,鈥� Braswell said. 鈥淒on鈥檛 miss a minute because you might miss a moment.鈥�
Here are some more tips from Braswell:
Be flexible. Don鈥檛 take things too seriously. 鈥淓njoy the intimate moments with your children,” he said.
Stay connected with other fathers. 鈥淐reate an accountability circle so that you can be able to talk to other dads about what they鈥檙e struggling with, because what you may be struggling with, others are also struggling with,” Braswell said.
Reintroduce yourself to members of your family. We take it for granted that our loved ones know who we are. But these days, the pandemic has a lot of people working from home, and “work dad” may be a side of you that your children and spouse have never met, Braswell said.
Be comfortable with your child鈥檚 at-home school experience, too. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 know 鈥榳ork dad,鈥� but you don鈥檛 know 鈥榮chool children,鈥欌�� he added.
鈥淢ake sure that you are flexible enough with your children to be able to help them navigate this time of COVID, and I guarantee that, on the other side of this, your family relationships will strengthen and you will have extreme joy in the fatherhood space that you鈥檙e in,鈥� Braswell said.
Remember, you’re not doing this alone. Juggling work and home during the COVID-19 pandemic is something even famous fathers are dealing with.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a father of three, recently tweeted about the experience:
Our family鈥檚 printer is in my office, so my days are often interrupted by the kids and their homework. It鈥檚 one of the things we鈥檝e had to adjust to this past year. But we鈥檙e also able to spend more time together and talk about school and sports – and mental health.
鈥� Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau)
Dads can find suggested activities to do with kids by age groups, a DadTalk blog, more advice and even some dad jokes on the .
Children who feel close to their fathers are two times more likely to go to college, 80% less likely to end up in jail and 50% less likely to experience depression, according to the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse鈥檚 鈥�#Dadication鈥� campaign.
The campaign was developed in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services鈥� Administration for Children and Families and the Ad Council to encourage fathers to play active roles in their children鈥檚 lives.
